Title: Christmas Surprises

Chapter: One - Prologue

Author: SnakeEyesHannah

Spoilers: OotP

Disclaimer: I do not own anything involving Harry Potter. This does all our favorite author, JK Rowling, bless her soul.

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The Yule Ball was drawing close, the castle was in a Christmassy spirit, and even the teachers seemed to lay off the students. They still had homework, the teachers would never allow the students to cruise around because the holidays drew closer, no, no, but they did cut them some slack when it came to turning in essays.

All the girls were giggling about boys, Christmas gifts, boys, their dresses and hairdos, and not to mention boys. The school had a variety of them to choose from, and seeing that only a few of them had been courageous enough to ask the giggling girl of their taste out, there were a lot of discussing who were going with who.

Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger were no different. You would think that Hermione spent all of her time complaining that the girls acted like fools over guys, bend over her precious books like always. But to everyone's surprise, she kept up with the gossip, latest news on the guy-front and joined in on the, sometimes fiery, discussions about possible dates.

Everyone knew that Hermione had her eye set of a certain redheaded boy in her class. Or rather, Ron Weasley, Ginny's youngest brother and Hermione's best friend. Ron himself seemed fairly oblivious to the attention he was getting from Hermione. He just kept on talking to Harry about Quidditch or whatever they were talking about. Depending on her mood, Hermione either tried to keep up with her two best friends when they debated on whether or not Chuddley Canons were going to win or loose upcoming game or she just stormed out, muttering loudly about how he could be so daft at times.

His best friend, Harry Potter, a raven haired, seventeen-year-old boy, wasn't as oblivious as Ron and could see Hermione make an effort. Not wanting to ruin the surprise for Ron when he would realize Hermione existed on another level than friendship, Harry stayed out of it, only shooting apologetic looks Hermione's way whenever Ron was being an extreme git. She would always give him the 'It's-not-your-fault-Ron's-daft'-look before turning to face Ginny again.

She, as in Ginny, was one thing that made Harry lay awake at night. He just couldn't believe that now, now that Ginny's childish crush on him had faded away he was falling for her. Now that they were on speaking terms with each other, now that they were able to talk about everything between heaven and earth, now he chose to fall for the redheaded beauty. Why hadn't he seen this coming?

Harry often found himself thinking about her, about her vibrant red hair, her chocolate brown eyes that always seemed to pierce through him, down to the very pit of his soul or her laughter. Oh yes, her laughter. It rang like silver bells through the room when she laughed. The way she tossed her head back when someone said something extremely funny, how her eyes sparkled with joy and how her hair caught every ray of the sun. Yes, Ginny Weasley was beautiful and Harry couldn't deny that. She had grown so much during the summer. She had gotten curves where she was supposed to, she had let her hair grow, making her seem older than she really was and something about her way seemed a lot older. Before, she had been shy and cautious, now she could walk up to almost everyone and wink seductively at them. It drove all the boys mad, Ron included. Seeing that he was the only brother left at Hogwarts to look after his only sister, he took it as a job to scare away any possible boyfriend Ginny might have. One look at Ron's furious face was enough to make any boy run for it. When it happened Ginny would always pout at Ron, look up at him with her big eyes and say 'I liked him' in her most baby-like voice. Ron softened at this, he always did, and he hugged her, whispering 'But you're my baby sister' to her, making her beam at him. It was fun to watch, seeing how Ron's normally so 'tough' look became ever so gentle and loving.

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Ginny slowly opened her eyes, shutting them quickly as the sun shone right at her through the curtains surrounding her four-poster bed. She groaned. Why were they going to Hogsmede so early? Harry, Ron and Hermione had been sitting in front of the fire in the Gryffindor common room, talking about the Hogsmede trip the following day. When Ginny joined them they explained that they were off to an early start, wanting to get all of their Christmas shopping done before lunch. In the spur of the moment Ginny agreed to go with them, but now in the morning Ginny promptly regretted it.

"Come on, Gin", she heard Hermione whisper. Hermione wasn't really supposed to be in Ginny's dorm because she was a year older than Ginny, but being Ginny's friend had taught her that it would be best to wake the redhead up herself.

Ginny rolled over to the other side, away from Hermione. But the brown haired girl wouldn't be ignored and pulled the duvet off Ginny, causing her to whimper at the cold. Ginny grumbled but got up. She flung her legs over the edge and tryingly put her feet on the floor. She quickly lifted them as the cold floor touched her bare feet.

"Stop whimpering!" Hermione said, throwing a pair of jeans and a white shirt at Ginny. Pulling on a pair of thick socks, Ginny was slowly starting to wake up. She pulled a crimson- and gold striped shirt over her head and squinted at the weather outside. It was still early and the sun was just rising. You could already tell it was going to be another glittering winter day.

Down at the common room, Ron and Harry were already waiting for them. Harry looked just as alert as Ginny felt and he tried to cover a yawn as they descended the stairs. His black hair was just as untidy as ever. Ginny felt a single butterfly fly around in her stomach. He's not interested in you that way, remember? she scolded herself, but the butterfly didn't stop. His emerald eyes, behind a new pair of glasses, were tried. She giggled to herself; he was so adorable with his hair on end and the silver rimmed glasses slid down on his nose. Ginny remembered the thick, black-rimmed glasses he used to wear; she hated them. But his new glasses really suited him, a 17-year-old boy – no, man – in his last year at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Ready to go?" Hermione asked with a smile on her lips. She didn't look at either Harry or Ginny when she said this, but they still nodded. They fell behind Ron and Hermione; they were both rather alert for the hour, dragging their feet behind them as they made their way down the marble stairs to the Great Hall.

There weren't a lot of people eating in the Hall, but there was enough to make the Hall seem slightly crowded. All the house tables had at least ten people each sitting at them. Hermione sighed.

"I thought we were going to be practically alone", she admitted as they settled at the Gryffindor table. Ginny was rather surprised herself. It wasn't even nine o'clock on a Saturday morning. Sure, it was Hogsmede weekend, but people would like to sleep in, wouldn't they?

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After a quick and rather quiet breakfast, the four of them headed for the small village Hogsmede, not too far away from Hogwarts. It was the only town in England completely run by wizards. The houses hadn't changed one bit since they last were in there almost a year ago. It still looked like a Christmas card with the snow on the rooftops, the stores and all of the people. They all smiled at the four teenagers as they made their way through the surprisingly large crowd to The Three Broomsticks, the local pub. They weren't too keen on drinking butterbeer so early in the morning (although Ron came with a few lame protests) so they only ordered some tea (or hot chocolate as Ginny and Harry both preferred that) and a biscuit to complete their breakfast they had had at the castle.

Soon they saw how more and more Hogwarts students made their way through the village, a lot of them ending up at the pub. As it began to fill up quite well, the four decided to head out for some shopping and have it done with. A chilled wind hit them as they headed out. Harry wasn't the only one who pulled the scarf a bit tighter around his neck.

A quick stop at Zonko's later Ginny and Ron each had a bag of 'surprises' for their brothers. Hermione wasn't a very big fan of jokes and pranks, and Harry didn't see anything he really liked. Besides, he had to save a few galleons or so for a special Christmas present. He glanced over at Ginny who was just laughing at something Ron said. He couldn't help but to notice how happy she seemed today.

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Author's note: Well, well… What did we have here? Reviews are most welcome, you know that! It's the button just below here…